Baseball batting training device

ABSTRACT

A BASEBALL-TRAINING DEVICE FOR USE IN INCREASING THE PROFICIENCY OF A BATTER TO HIT DIFFERENT TYPES OF PITCHED BALLS. A FIRST EMBODIMENT OF THE APPARATUS INCLUDES A CONVENTIONAL CORK CENTER BASEBALL HAVING A HOLE DRILLED A PORTION OF THE WAY THERETHROUGH AND A CORD GLUED THEREIN AT ONE OF ITS ENDS AND ATTACHED TO A HANDLE AT THE OTHER OF ITS ENDS. A SECOND EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION COMPRISES A BASEBALL WITH A HOLE THEREIN AND A CORD GLUED IN THE HOLE, THE CORD BEING ATTACHED TO A BOOM ROTATABLE ABOUT A FIXED CENTER. THE BOOM IS ROTATABLY DRIVEN BY A VARIABLE SPEED DRIVE MECHANISM AND IS CONNECTED THERETO THROUGH A SLIP CLUTCH ARRANGEMENT. THE RADIUS BETWEEN THE BALL AND THE ROTATIONAL CENTER OF THE BOOM MAY BE SELECTIVELY VARIED TO CHANGE THE TYPE OF PITCH AS THE BALL PASSES THE BATTER AND THE BOOM MAY BE RAISED OR LOWERED TO SELECTIVELY CHANGE THE HEIGHT OF THE PITCH AS IT PASSES THE BATTER. THE RADIUS AND HEIGHT IS VARIED BY CONVENTIONAL FLUID CYLINDERS.

United States Patet [72] Inventor Billy J. Griffin 3961 Scott Drive,Forest Part, Ga. 30050 [2]] Appl. No. 775,752

[22] Filed Nov. 14, I968 [45) Patented June28,197l

[54] BASEBALL BATTING TRAINING DEVICE 3,408,070 10/1968 Gonzales et alABSTRACT: A baseball-training device for use in increasing theproficiency of a batter to hit different types of pitched balls. A firstembodiment of the apparatus includes a conventional cork center baseballhaving a hole drilled a portion of the way therethrough and a cord gluedtherein at one of its ends and attached to a handle at the other of itsends. A second embodiment of the invention comprises a baseball with ahole therein and a cord glued in the hole, the cord being attached to aboom rotatable about a fixed center. The boom is rotatably driven by avariable speed drive mechanism and is connected thereto through a slipclutch arrangement. The radius between the ball and the rotationalcenterof the boom may be selectively varied to change the type of pitch as theball passes the batter and the boom may be raised or lowered toselectively change the height of the pitch as it passes the batter. Theradius and height is varied by conventional fluid cylinders.

mama] JuN28I971 3588.104

SHEET 1 [IF 2 INVENTOR.

BILLY J. GRIFFIN ATTORNEYS PATENTEDJIJH28|971 3,588,104

SHEET 2 0F 2 VIII. 1

INVENTOR.

FIG. IO BILLY J. GRIFFIN BY 15' ATTORNEYS BASEBALL BATTING TRAININGDEVICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention Theinvention relates generally to baseball-training equipment and is moreparticularly concerned with a training aid for increasing theproficiency of a batter.

2. Discussion of the Prior Art Baseball-batting devices are available onthe market today. The devices consist on the one hand of a ball attachedto a stick by a cord which is run through the ball and knotted on theopposite side thereof. On the other hand devices are available which donot have the ball attached to anything but simply throws a straight fastball-type of pitch for batting prac tree.

In those devices which have a ball attached to a stick by a cord, thereare usually protuberances of some type or other extending from the ballso that the trajectory characteristics of the ball are varied over thatwhich is associated with a ball that is actually pitched during abaseball game. Since it is highly desirable that the ball behave asclosely as possible to an actual pitch, these devices have beeninadequate in providing such trajectories that correspond to actualpitches for use in improving the proficiency of a batter.

The mechanized device for throwing a ball that is not attached to a cordhas been limited to substantially one type of pitch, this being a fastball. Since many other-type pitches are nonnally thrown in actualpractice, such as a curve, a slider, etc., these devices have beeninadequate for reproducing pitches normally encountered in a baseballgame for batting practice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION These and other problems associated with theprior art are overcome by the invention disclosed herein in that almostall types of pitches with the exception of the knuckle ball can bereproduced for batting practice. This is accomplished by the use of acord attached to the ball with a minimum of protuberances extending fromthe ball so as not to change the normal trajectory characteristics ofthe ball as it moves past the batter.

The apparatus of the first embodiment of the invention comprisesprimarily a baseball having a hole drilled a portion of the waytherethrough, a cord glued therein with an epoxy cement, and a handleattached to the other end of the cord for swinging a ball about the headofa person moving the ball past a batter during practice session.

The second embodiment of the invention includes a ball with a cordattached thereto as with the first embodiment of the invention and movedby a boom rotatably mounted on a support and selectively driven atvariable speeds. Means is provided for varying the radius between theball and the center of rotation thereof for throwing curve balls andmeans is also provided for varying the height of the ball as it is swungabout its center of rotation for other types of pitches. A slip clutchoperatively connects the boom with the driving mechanism so that theball will retract When it is struck by a batter in practice session butwill be reengaged by the drive mechanism and rotated again after a shortperiod of time.

These and other features and advantages of the invention will becomemore apparent upon consideration of the following detailed descriptionand accompanying drawing wherein like characters of reference designatethe corresponding parts throughout the several views and in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a perspective view of afirst embodiment of the invention:

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the ball with the cordattached thereto;

FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing showing the first embodiment of theinvention in use;

FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing showing the mechanism for installing thecord into the hole drilled in the ball;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the installation tool showing the positionof the cord as the cord is installed in the ball shown in dashed lines;

FIG. 6 is side elevational view partially broken away to show theinterior construction thereof of a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the invention shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the slip clutch and camcontrol arrangement of the invention shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line 99 inFIG. 8 showing one of the cams for controlling the movement of the ballof that embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 6; and,

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of the control circuit of the secondembodiment of the invention.

These figures and the following detailed description show specificembodiments of the invention, however, the inventive concept is notlimited thereto since it may be embodied in other forms.

DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS Referring specifically to FIGS.1 and 2, the apparatus of the first embodiment of the inventioncomprises generally a baseball designated generally by the letter 10having a cord 11 attached thereto and an handle 12 attached to theopposite end of the cord 11.

The baseball 10 has a cork center 14 with strings 15 wound therearoundand a covering 16 thereover. The covering 16 is shown as a molded rubbercovering however the covering 16 may be any desired material such asleather just so that the baseball 10 corresponds to the actual baseballused in the particular league in which practice is necessary. Adiametrically extending hole 18 is drilled into the ball through thecovering 16, the strings l5 and into the cork center 14 a distancegreater than the radius of the baseball 10 but less than the diameter ofthe baseball 10 so that nothing will protrude from the opposite side ofthe baseball 10.

The baseball 10 is positioned so that the hole 18 extends upwardly andan epoxy-type glue 19 is poured therein. The cord II is then insertedinto the hole 18 with the glue 19 therein so that that portion of thecord 11 extending in the hole 18 is doubled. To increase the holdingcapabilities of the cord 11, that end of the cord 18 designatedgenerally as 20 is frayed before it is placed in the hole 18. After theglue 19 has set up, the cord II is prevented from moving out of the hole18. It will thus be seen that only the cord 11 proper will extend fromonly one side of the baseball 10 so that the baseball 10 will retainalmost all of its natural properties as it is moved through the airduring a batting practice. The cord 11 is inserted through anappropriate hole 21 in the handle 12 and is knotted so that it cannot bepulled back through the handle 12 as a person grasps the handle 12 andswings the baseball 10 about his head along Path P as seen in FIG. 3.

While different lengths of cord 11 may be used, it has been found that acord of 9 feet produces the best possible results since greater lengthsof cord allows wind resistance to vibrate the cord and change thenatural characteristics of the baseball 10 as it is being swung aboutthe head of a person. A shorter length, of course, places the ball tooclose to the person swinging the same so that the danger of the personswinging the ball being struck as a batter hits the ball is increased.

The device is made as indicated in FIG. 4 and 5 by first drilling thehole 18 in the ball 10 and laying the cord 11 with the end 20 frayed inthe aforementioned manner across the hole 18 after it has been filledwith the glue 19. A cylindrical installing tool 22 having a forked end24 thereon is is aligned with the hole 18 and is carried by aconventional press 25 so that the tool 22 may be lowered into the hole18 carrying therewith the cord 11. The forked end 24 prevents the cordfrom slipping past the tool 22 as it is lowered into the hole 18 so thatthe cord 11 will be properly insert into the hole 18.

Referring specifically to FIG. 6--9, the second embodiment of theinvention comprises generally a baseball 10 having a constructionsimilar to the baseball 10 and a cord 11 attached thereto in a mannersimilar to that in which the cord 11 is attached to the baseball 10.

The cord 11 is attached to a boom which is rotatably mounted on a base31 so that the boom 30 may be rotated about the base 31. The boom 30 iscarried by a drive unit having a motor 34 and a variable speedtransmission 35. The variable speed transmission 35 has an output shaft36 which carries the boom 30. The speed of the output shaft 36 can bevaried by rotating the handle 38 attached to the variable speedtransmission 35. It is to be understood, however, the different devicesmay be used for varying the speed of the output shaft 36 in lieu of thehandle 38 such as an electrical control mechanism.

The boom 30 is rotatably mounted on the shaft 36 by an appropriatebearing 39 and is selectively connected to the shaft 36 through afriction slip clutch 40. The slip clutch 40 includes a drive plate 41fixedly attached to the shaft 36 and a driven plate 42 affixed to theboom 30. A conventional friction disc 44 is attached to the drive plate42 and a spring 45 constantly forces the driven plate 42 toward thedrive plate 41 so that the friction plate 44 will engage the uppersurface of the drive plate 41 and drive the boom 30 with the shaft 36.

The pressure at which the spring 45 urges the driven plate 42 toward thedrive plate 41 is such that the boom 30 will be driven at substantiallythe same speed as the drive shaft 36 until the ball 10' is struck by abatter during batting practice. The reverse reactionary force on theboom 30 causes the clutch 40 to slip until the reactionary force on theball 10' and boom 30 is overcome by the pressure of the spring 45 andthe boom 30 is once again driven at substantially the same speed as theoutput shaft 36.

The boom 30 includes a pair of horizontally extending support tubes 46attached to the driven plate 42 of the clutch 40 and extendinghorizontally outwardly therefrom. The support tubes 46 are joined attheir outer ends and have attached thereto at their outer ends a pulleyassembly 40 which includes a freely rotatable grooved pulley 49 alongwhich the cord 11 passes and a holddown member 50 which passes over thecord 11' to maintain the cord ll in the groove in the pulley 49 at alltimes.

The inwardly extending end of the cord 11' is attached to a piston rod51 ofa fluid cylinder 52. The fluid cylinder 52 is fixedly mountedbetween the support tubes 46 so that as the piston rod 51 is selectivelyextended and retracted, the radius about which the ball l0 is rotatingcan be selectively changed. This is effective to permit the ball 10' tobe thrown in a curve breaking either inside or outside as it passes bythe batter during a practice session.

The movement of the piston rod 51 can be selectively controlled by a cam54 attached to and rotatable with the shaft 36 thereby activating avalve 55 of conventional design which varies the amount of fluidsupplied to the fluid cylinder 52 from a fluid source FS as seen in FIG.6. A top view of the cam 54 is shown in FIG. 9 and is simply aneccentric-type cam. The cam shape, of course, may be changed to suit theparticular requirements of the training session. It is to be furtherunderstood that the cam 54 and valve 55 may be located remotely of theoutput shaft 36 and varied either manually or programmed for differenttypes of pitches.

The height of the ball 10 is controlled by a fluid cylinder 56 connectedto the output shaft 36 through a universal joint 58 and having itspiston rod 59 pinned to the boom 30. It will thus be seen that extensionand retraction of the piston rod 59 selectively raises and lowers theboom 30 and the ball 10' attached thereto. A cam 60 and a valve 61similar to the cam 54 and the valve 55 selectively connects the fluidsource PS to the cylinder 56 so as to selectively extend and retract thepiston rod 59 thereby raising and lowering the ball 10' as it is rotatedabout the" output shaft 36. Likewise, the cam 60 and valve 61 may bereplaced by an external control arrangement for either manuallycontrolling or programming the movement of the ball 10 vertically. Thecam 60 is here shown as an eccentrictype cam, however, the configurationthereof may be selectively varied to meet the demands of the particulartraining session.

It is also to be understood that the cams 54 and 60 are removablyconnected to the shaft 36 as best seen in FIG. 9 with the attachingmechanism indicated by the numeral 62 so that different shaped earns 54and 60 may be used to change the pitch that is to be used during thetraining session.

The control circuit will be better understood by reference to FIG. 10.The fluid source is designated as FS and is connected to the fluidcylinders 52 and 56. Selection valves SV and SV are respectivelyprovided for selecting the appropriate control valves for connection tothe cylinders 52 and 56. When valve SV is set in a first position, thecylinder 52 is connected to the fluid source FS through bypass valve BVand when a second position connects cylinder 52 to the fluid source FSthrough the cam control valve CCV. The bypass valve BV serves to centerthe piston rod 51 in the cylinder 52 and the valve CCV corresponds toone or more cam and valve assemblies such as cam 54 and valve 55. Thevalve SV selectively connects cylinder 56 with valves BV' and CCV tooperate cylinder 56 like cylinder 52 is operated. In this manner curves,fast balls, risers, drops and combinations thereof can be obtained.

I claim:

l. A baseball-training aid for simulating pitched balls comprising:

a base;

a boom rotatably mounted on said base for rotation about a vertical axisand for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis;

driving means for selectively rotating said boom about said verticalaxis;

first fluid cylinder means operatively connecting said boom and saidbase for variably raising and lowering the extending end of said boomabout said horizontal axis as said boom is rotated about said verticalaxis;

a second fluid cylinder means carried by said boom;

a ball; and,

a cord operatively connected said ball to said second fluid cylindermeans so that the ball extends approximately radially with respect tosaid vertical axis from the extending end of said boom as said boom isrotated, said second cylinder means constructed and arranged to variablyincrease and decrease the effective radial distance between said balland said vertical axis as said ball is moved by said boom.

2. A baseball-training aid as set forth in claim 1 further including asource of fluid under pressure;

first valve means selectively connecting said fluid under pressure tosaid first cylinder means to cause said first cylinder means to raiseand lower the extending end of said boom and thus raise and lower saidball as it is rotated about said vertical axis;

first cam means operatively associated with said first valve means andsynchronously driven by said driving means for controlling said firstvalve means;

second valve means selectively connecting said fluid under pressure tosaid second cylinder means to cause said second cylinder means toincrease and decrease the effective distance of said ball from saidvertical axis as said ball is rotated about said vertical axis; and,

second cam means operatively associated with said second valve means andsynchronously driven by said driving means for controlling said secondvalve means.

